We have lost a real good OL and a good DL in this years transfer portal. I know all the complaints and if true I agree on some. We have to fix the culture. Just noting that football is a LOS game and we lost 2 good ones on LOS.
Now I think we have some stars on each yet to make their mark but we need to continue to add some big nasties on DL and OL going forward.
Difficult though when you have a brand new coaching staff and you are in a situation where they aren't allowed to be around the players to build a relationship. The coaching change needed to be made its just our bad luck that a pandemic struck in the same year.Quote:
Originally Posted by R2Dawg
I don't know. Looking at it in a vacuum regarding this year only:
1. We added a potential first round QB. That would not have happened in the past unless it was someone that went to a JUCO first and then we would have to fight off people like Auburn.
2. We were able to add an offensive lineman who could start from Alabama that we shouldn't have missed on in the first place. In a way we traded Reese for Lashley. In the past Lashley would have had to go to Alcorn, Jackson State, or just quit football altogether. We'll see how it pans out but both MSU and Lashley likely benefitted here.
3. We added a potential kicker in Brandon Ruiz. He may just do kickoffs this year and then take over for Christmann in 2021. This also benefits us because we can potentially redshirt Scott Goodman and allow him a year to develop and maybe take over for Tucker Day at punter in a couple of years while also improving as a kickoff guy. Seems like a likely good deal for us.
4. We lost Fabien Lovett. I think he is a solid SEC DT with high upside but at the same time it's obvious that he and his father have issues that could have caused us even more problems internally than what we already know. Allowing him to leave probably will help from an overall culture standpoint and it sounds like him leaving was probably inevitable anyway although it does hurt depth wise. I think Nathan Pickering can step in and maybe Pickering would have ended up starting anyway- who knows? And I think Jaden Crumedy will be adequate backing him up so we should be OK while also improving our culture.
5. We lost KT who simply wasn't accurate enough to play QB in Leach's system and didn't want to play WR so he went to Virginia where his skill set fits better. That's just the nature of the QB position and also having coaching changes and really happens everywhere with this position because only one guy can start. Is what it is and if it wasn't KT it probably would have been another QB like Shrader leaving. At least he has the option to go somewhere like Virginia whereas in the past he would have had to go somewhere like Samford, Chattanooga, or etc.
6. Lost Brevyn Jones who wasn't a SEC player and we upgraded him with a guy that wants to be at MSU and will probably contribute and be a starter who has a high work ethic and can play several position on the o-line potentially. Sounds like MSU came out good here.
7. Lost Stewart Reese who wanted to go home and play with his brother. Also may or may not have started for us as he did not start the second half of the year and I'm assuming he has a better opportunity to do that at Florida which doesn't surprise me given that Hevesy is their coach. Hurts depth wise but at least we have recouped already as mentioned above. I do think it's good that players have this option even if we did potentially come out on the short end of the stick. We did get Jay Banks from Louisville who has a brother on our team so I can't really criticize this too much.
I would have traded Reese and Lovett for Costello and Lashley.
We also add Cole Smith this year coming off the sit out year as a transfer. He could very well factor into our plans at Center.Quote:
Originally Posted by HoopsDawg
Overall I think the transfer portal is good for us. I do think our previous coaching staffs have missed on some local guys in the past like Cole Smith and Reed Buys for whatever reason and I think it's good for them and MSU to have another option to come to MSU potentially if they show that they can indeed be SEC caliber. I know Buys is a JUCO guy so not a great example there. But let's say there is a MSU fan that doesn't get a MSU offer out of high school and he's a borderline three star guy who has a USM and Tulane offer. That player can either choose to go to a JUCO and be recruited again or now because of the transfer rule maybe go to USM and develop as a player against even better competition and with better coaching and then maybe by the time he can be a grad transfer he can potentially come to MSU if there is mutual interest.
Think about how this could have helped MSU in the past potentially with someone like a Jerry Rice or a Brett Favre if they went to MVSU and USM respectively and in today's football climate. I'm sure the MSU staff knew that Rice was legit in 1984 but because of the rules there was no way he could ever go back home without sitting out. And I know that's maybe an extreme example but I think people get the gist.
Correct. And I'll also say that we all talk about guys like him and Lashley going to schools with "bright lights" like LSU and Alabama and then they just sit for four years. At least now they have an option to come back to MSU once they see what the situation is rather than either just sit out or go to a FCS school. Otherwise the only way back was to do what Jonathan Abram did and leave after their freshman year, play JUCO ball for a year and then go to MSU. Again, that's a good thing for both MSU and the player.Quote:
Originally Posted by maroonmania
You have to give credit to the new staff for keeping everyone else.
Good way to look at it.Quote:
Originally Posted by HoopsDawg
Yeah, I think once Leach is here for a while they portal will help us far more than hurt.Quote:
Originally Posted by HoopsDawg
Maybe on the defensive side we could have some dings, but offensively, I think far more players will be looking to transfer in to play in that offense than transfer out. Particularly when you consider that in a few years Leach will have the guys he recruited for those spots. I mean, what starting QB or WR is going to transfer out to Bama or LSU to catch less passes & throw less often?